Boosting Crop Production by Spreading Effluent
Tararua district farmer Jamie Harris milks around 400 cows using a split calving system on his farm, Crossdale Dairies.
Onfarm benefits of good effluent management include:
- Fertiliser savings
- Improved soil condition
- Prevention of animal-health issues
- Compliance with council rules or resource consent.
The key to good decision making is understanding the soil water deficit. It is essential to prevent ponding and run-off and to avoid applying effluent to saturated soils.
Soil water deficit is the amount of water (ie effluent) which can be applied to the soil before it reaches field capacity (which refers to the amount of water held in the soil after excess water has drained away). If effluent is added at field capacity it will likely result in ponding, runoff or leaching.
The average dairy cow produces $25 worth of nutrients annually as farm dairy effluent (FDE). For a 400 cow dairy herd this represents about $10,000 of nutrients annually. If these FDE nutrients are used effectively then this significantly reduces the fertiliser bill.
The DairyNZ Farm Dairy Effluent Spreading Calculator (app or Excel spreadsheet) allows farmers to easily calculate nutrient loadings and application rates for dairy effluent based on a number of customisable inputs. This means that farmers can manage the application of their effluent nutrients with greater precision.
